Friday, May 27, 2011

Reading one of the mainstream media newspapers today, we came across an intriguing comment by Nazri Aziz, the Parliament and Miscellaneous Affairs Minister, where he had said that Ibrahim Ali was a clown.

It was very strange because we had always thought that Nazri was a clown. Could there be two of them? Is there some deep-seated professional rivalry between these two clowns? Is there no honor among clowns?

We have always liked clowns, and when we were a little older and could understand them, comedians. Yet we had had no inkling that Ibrahim Ali was a clown. All this time we had considered him to be merely a racist demagogue and ignored him.

Now we are informed by no less than a Minister that he is a clown, and this is a Minister who should know. Could this really be true? We were determined to investigate.

We first used that foremost investigative tool, and googled him. We could find few references to him as a clown, though it is clearly not the first time that he is being called that. However we find that he is often referred to as a frog. Could it be that there is such a thing as a clown frog? It was most mysterious.

Studying a photo of him, we find he looks entirely human. There is some resemblance perhaps, but surely no one would be so mean as to call him a frog just because he looks a little like one. His political history however was more illuminating; it showed him jumping from Umno to Semangat 46 to Independent to PAS to Independent.

The initials of the parties he has joined, since Malaysians are fond of using initials to identify the next Prime Minister, are USIPI. Using a complex mathematical formula, we derive that the next party he will jump to will start with D.

Going through the list of political parties, we find that the party that starts with D is DAP. So! Ibrahim Ali is going to join DAP next.

This, we assume, is because they have announced that they will be giving seats to Malay candidates. And they have been winning elections. While Ibrahim Ali needs to win the next election, which won't happen if he stands as an independent. No other party will touch him, but the DAP is desperate for Malay members, and Ibrahim Ali is desperate to win. It is a perfect match!

After more painstaking investigation, of which details we will spare you, we came to the following conclusions. Nazri is right, Ibrahim Ali is a clown, but he is a sad one. Nazri is without doubt also a clown, but he has the edge over Ibrahim Ali, as he is part of a circus.

And with Samy Velu not around to threaten his position, Nazri will continue to be the clown-in-chief, until he is defeated, in Padang Rengas, which, thankfully, may be soon.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Written by Keph Senett
With the cooperation of politicians and grassroots organizations, Bolivia is set to pass the Law of Mother Earth, which will grant nature the same rights and protections as humans. The piece of legislation, called la Ley de Derechos de la Madre Tierra, is intended to encourage a radical shift in conservation attitudes and actions, to enforce new control measures on industry, and to reduce environmental destruction.

The law redefines natural resources as blessings and confers the same rights to nature as to human beings, including: the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered. Perhaps the most controversial point is the right "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities".

In late 2005 Bolivia elected its first indigenous president, Evo Morales. Morales is an outspoken champion for environmental protection, petitioning for substantive change within his country and at the United Nations. Bolivia, one of South America's poorest countries, has long had to contend with the consequences of destructive industrial practices and climate change, but despite the best efforts of Morales and members of his administration, their concerns have largely been ignored at the UN.

In 2009, directly following the resolution of the General Assembly to designate April 22 "International Mother Earth Day," Morales addressed the press, stating “If we want to safeguard mankind, then we need to safeguard the planet. That is the next major task of the United Nations”.

A change to Bolivia's constitution in the same year resulted in an overhaul of the legal system - a shift from which this new law has sprung.

The Law of Mother Earth has as its foundation several of the tenets of indigenous belief, including that human are equal to all other entities.

"Our grandparents taught us that we belong to a big family of plants and animals. We believe that everything in the planet forms part of a big family," Choquehuanca said. "We indigenous people can contribute to solving the energy, climate, food and financial crises with our values."

The legislation will give the government new legal powers to monitor and control industry in the country.

"Existing laws are not strong enough," said Undarico Pinto, leader of the 3.5m-strong Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia (a group that helped draft the law). "It will make industry more transparent. It will allow people to regulate industry at national, regional and local levels."

We, concerned citizens of Malaysia, are of the understanding that Lynas Corporation has made one or more payments to the Malaysian Government.

We suspect and fear that this has somewhat helped to fast track the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) approval process - without public knowledge and through a very loose Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) despite a complex and hazardous project.

Under Malaysia's Official Secrets Act, we will have little, if any, hope of getting any truth out of our Government, even though this matter is of utmost national interest.

In the interests of both Malaysia and Australia, both Lynas and our Government should be transparent about the approval process.

As Australia has been a strong advocate of good governance and is committed to stamping out corruption, we call upon your good Government to compel Lynas Corporation to adhere to its stated value of honesty and transparency to reveal the deal it has struck with the Malaysian Government and also to make all payment records public. This is of interest not only to all Malaysians but also to the Australian shareholders of Lynas Corporation.

We trust that the Australian Government is committed to protecting the good name of Australia and will not risk one corporation's headlong quest for profit, at the expense of the health of Malaysians and the local environment, to tarnish the good reputation of Australia.

We therefore urge the Australian Government to investigate Lynas Corporation for any possible wrongdoings in its dealings with the Malaysian Government. We were appalled and disgusted to learn that Lynas Corporation had offered a job to the soon-to-be-retired Director-General of the Malaysian Atomic Agency Licensing Board (AELB), Yang Berbahagia Datuk Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan, by his own admission. I am sure you will agree with me that such an offer is tantamount to fair dinkum conflict of interest, collusion and corruption.

We the residents of Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia are extremely concerned over the proposed construction and operation of the above plant.

It is common knowledge that:

1) LAMP will be processing rare earths oxide which contains Thorium.2) Thorium is a known radioactive material.3) The mineral monazite which contains the Thorium is mined at Mount Weld in Western Australia and will be shipped to Kuantan, through Freemantle Port for processing at LAMP.

As your country is the originator of this dangerous material it is only right that your country must take responsibility for its presence here in this country.

We are not convinced by the assurances of LAMP, (and others allied to their cause), that the LAMP is safe. If it truly were so, surely then your country should readily keep that industry within its borders, or at the very least, be prepared to take back the waste ( which contains the deadly thorium). But your country has flatly refused to take back their own waste. Source: The Star (12/04/2011, Pg. N.23)

Malaysians have had experience with Thorium, in the Bukit Merah plant in Ipoh, Perak. The consequences of that fiasco are still continuing. Children born deformed or retarded are still alive but unable to articulate their plight while some have lost their lives to cancer.

LAMP claims that their plant is totally different from that of Bukit Merah facility and that the levels of radioactivity is very low. But we remain unconvinced, nor are we prepared to experiment with our health and lives and those of our future generations.

We the residents of Kuantan, appeal to your higher values and call upon you , to do all that you can, to stop the shipment of this Thorium containing material from your country.

Surely, your country being a respectable member of the international community would not allow an International Convention to be flouted or circumvented.

Your Excellency, we the people of Kuantan do not want, in our midst LAMP and for that matter any other company that produces any form of radioactive material.

Your Excellency, does it not seem unconscionable to you that ore containing this radioactive material should be shipped 4000km from your country to Malaysia for the monetary gain of LAMP while the people of Kuantan are left to face the long term effects of the obnoxious waste?This Thorium waste, as your Excellency would already know, is radioactive and has a ½ life of 14 billion years. Thus, for generations to come , we the people of Malaysia will be exposed to the risks of radioactive contaminations.

Your Excellency, this Movement, is inspired by the most lofty ideals - that of human lives and health. We are resolved to continue our struggle to safeguard our air, water and soil from LAMP’s (and others’) deadly wastes. The vast majority of Malaysians share our mission. We again exhort you, to do all that you can, within your power to stop the dangerous ore from leaving your own shores.

We trust you understand and share our concerns. Many Australians in fact, already do, as the Internet reveals.

Mr Robin Chapple, MLC, Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region is “deeply worried” as expressed in his media release dated 13/04/2011.

I annex a copy of the release downloaded from the internet, for your further reading.

I trust that you will act as a good citizen of the world, and of Australia in particular.